Blasts kill 29, wound hundreds in north Lebanon

ASSOCIATED PRESS

August 24, 2013 12:01 AM

A man recites prayers amid the destruction after a car bomb outside the Al-Taqwa mosque in the northern city of Tripoli, Lebanon, Friday, Aug. 23, 2013. The twin car bombs, which killed dozens hit amid soaring tensions in Lebanon as a result of Syria's civil war, which has sharply polarized the country along sectarian lines and between supporters and opponents of the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad. It was the second such bombing in just over a week, showing the degree to which the tiny country is being consumed by the raging war next door. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)AP

The coordinated attacks in this predominantly Sunni city -- the deadliest fallout from Syria's civil war to hit Lebanon -- raised sectarian tensions to dangerous levels amid fears the country was slipping into a prolonged cycle of revenge.

The blasts marked the second such attack in just over a week. A deadly car bombing targeted an overwhelmingly Shiite district south of Beirut controlled by the militant Hezbollah group on Aug. 15, demonstrating how the country is being torn apart by the civil war next door.